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I would get my moment to ask the woman I loved to officially be mine. I not only wanted Axel to bare my name one day, but I wanted her to bare it too if she would let me.
On the last day of the trip in California, I had asked Axel for his mother’s hand in marriage. But now, having seen her parents again, I realized I had missed one very crucial person in this whole process. If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it right.
“I am going to get something to drink. Does anyone want anything?” Danny’s father rose to his feet.
Now was my chance. “Let me come with you. Babe, you want anything?”
“Just hot chocolate, please. Actually, make that two. I’m going to have to wake him up just now and he is going to be a little cranky.”
“Okay.” I kissed her and then went off with Mr. Anderson.
We walked together to the cafeteria, making small talk. He asked me what I used to do before I moved to Riverroad. Then he asked about my family and my friends outside of Riverroad.
“You grew up to be a fine young man, Gavin. I am sure Dave is proud.”
“I try to make them proud, sir.” I had known this man for the majority of my life, but I felt so nervous. My palms were sweating, and my heart was hammering heavily in my chest.
“Come now.” He patted me on the back, letting out a boisterous laugh. “You don’t have to use all these formalities with me, my boy. Call me Bill.”
“Okay, Bill,” I said nervously. We were only a few steps from the cafeteria, and I wanted to ask him now. “I know I came under the guise of helping you, which I will do. However, there is something I want to ask you.”
He remained silent, staring at me with a blank expression on his face.
I looked away for a moment, trying to gather the courage. “I have loved your daughter from the moment I met her on that damn playground almost twenty years ago. She came into my world and flipped it upside down in the best way possible. From a young age, I knew that she was the one for me. Your daughter made me work for it. I had to have patience like no other but I realized that it was all simply part of our journey together. I was a fool for letting her go once, and I would be a fool to let her go now. So with that being said, Bill, will you do me the extraordinary honor of allowing me to marry your daughter?”
Bill’s lips eased into a smile. “You do know I gave you my blessing a long time ago, right?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Don’t you remember? Your 10th birthday party? It was the same day that Rob Wanton tried to kiss Danny, and you nearly beat his ass because of it.”
As he continued to speak, the memory came trickling in like a faded dream.
“Then I walked up to you and said, ‘for my birthday I would like your blessing to marry Danny’.”
He nodded with a smile. “And what did I say?”
“You said: ‘there is no one you would rather have as a son in law’.”
“And now, almost two decades later, I have not changed my mind, son. You have my blessing to marry Danny. But I need you to promise me that you will raise that little boy like he is your own. I know he may not be your biolo—”
“He is my son. In all the ways that count, he is my son.”
If possible, Bill’s smile went wider. “I am glad to hear that.”
Thankfully, this talk had gone exactly how I needed it to go. I had been nervous for nothing and now I was free to get down on one knee in front of the woman I love. Obviously not today, seeing as there was a lot already happening. But we would have our moment.
When we were back in the maternity waiting area, we gave everyone their orders. Axel was awake and just as predicted cranky.
“Hey, buddy.” I smiled at him which only earned me a scowl. “I got some hot chocolate for you.”
That caught his attention. He perked up a little in Danny’s lap and reached for the cup. I had added warm water instead of hot because I didn’t want him burning himself.
“Thank you, babe.” She kissed my cheek, as I settled down in the chair next to hers.
“Anything for you, my light,” I replied to him easily.
“Aww, that’s cute.” This time, it was Jade who was interrupting our little bubble. “Why don’t you call me cute things like my light?“
